By Paul Showalter
The Lyon Park Santa Express made several runs throughout Arlington County and the Lyon Park neighborhood. Our first run, on Saturday December 16, went through the friendly streets of Lyon Park—where we were joined by four wonderful helper elves, Benton Rosenbaum, Ferdy Walsh, Alexys Linder, and Alejandro Linder, under the watchful eye of Darcy Rosenbaum. Our trip started at the Washington-Lee apartments where Santa and his sleigh were greeted by a huge crowd of kids. Everyone wanted their picture with Santa—and a candy cane! Throughout our run, Santa was greeted by cheering kids, happy parents, and smiling grandparents.
After Santa finished his run through Lyon Park, he took a short break to eat his favorite pizza at Troy’s Italian Kitchen. Energized, Santa directed his sleigh up to the park at Clarendon Crossing and then on to Ballston’s Mosaic Park. At each location, kids and parents were thrilled to see Santa arrive unexpectedly (and many more photos were taken).
Santa had so much fun visiting those two parks that he scheduled two more Santa Express runs in Arlington! Santa and his sleigh visited 8 parks in South Arlington on Friday December 22 and another 8 parks in North Arlington on Saturday December 23. During Santa’s run in South Arlington, he visited his favorite sandwich shop, the “Weenie Beenie,” for a quick bite. After his North Arlington run, Santa had to return to the North Pole to make final preparations for his Christmas deliveries. Judging by the sounds we heard on Christmas morning; Santa had visited many happy children in Lyon Park.
Santa (aka Gary Putnam) and his head elf (Paul Showalter) are taking a much-needed rest. They look forward to seeing everyone next December. Until then, Ho Ho Ho!
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